


Happy Howlidays

by BarnesnMrNoble



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Bucky Barnes being happy, Fluff, Major major fluff, Minor angst in some parts, Steve does too, They are quite the duo, and breaking rules, if you squint really hard - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 09:21:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17077619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarnesnMrNoble/pseuds/BarnesnMrNoble
Summary: Steve has only one rule for this public service trip. One rule. Can Bucky keep his promise or will he not be able to resist the puppy dog eyes?





	Happy Howlidays

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn’t help myself, this prompt was too adorable not to write. I don’t have the link to the post, sadly. And thank you to @startrekkingaroundasgard for helping with this title! Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this fluff! As always feedback is appreciated!

One rule. Steve only had the one rule. And it was a rule he had broken. Well him and Bucky. 

“Are you ready to go?” 

Steve appeared in the doorway with a giddy smile on his lips. Of all the community events, charity galas, and public outreach they had to do, this was Steve’s favorite. It was also the most dangerous one they had to do. Well, dangerous may have been a stretch. 

Bucky nodded and grabbed his coat from the hook. 

Steve pulled the car into a parking spot around the back of the building, near the volunteers entrance. He pulled the keys out of the ignition and turned to Bucky with a serious look. 

“Okay, before we go in, we need to be clear. What is my one rule?”

Bucky gave a soft laugh and rolled his eyes. They had been over this a thousand times. Ever since Tony had asked if they wanted to take this outreach opportunity Steve had repeated his one rule over and over. Two damn weeks, this had been going on. Bucky was about ready to punch him in the throat if he asked again. 

“Okay Steve. I think I got the jist.” Bucky rolled his eyes again at Steve. Any harder and they would’ve gotten stuck in his head. 

“No, I know you. If you don’t say it out loud, you’ll use that against me later when I have to be the dick that tells you no.” 

He had definitely pulled on the dad pants today. It was for good reason, if he didn’t Bucky would definitely use his puppy dog eyes to get his way. Like a damn three year old. He’d been perfecting those puppy dog eyes since he moved in to the tower. Yes, he was over his past, he still had the occasional nightmare but he was now an official member of the avengers. But just because he had overcome his struggles didn’t mean he wasn’t going to use it to his advantage. He played the “I was a prisoner of war, held captive and brainwashed by Hydra for 70 years.” card well. Mostly on Sam and Steve, the easiest targets.

“I am not, under any circumstances, allowed to get attached.” 

Bucky reluctantly grumbled. He knew he would either way, there was no stopping it. How could you resist the puppy eyes from a puppy. They were what he used to practice his own puppy eyes. 

So, the two stepped out of the car and headed into the volunteers entrance. Just inside the door was a small desk where Ella, the volunteer coordinator, sat. She smiled brightly at the two and handed them the sign in sheet. 

“Hey El! How ya doin’?” Steve smiled brightly at the girl. He’d had been shamelessly flirting with the girl as long as they had been coming in to the shelter. Bucky had tried to nudge him into asking her out but each time Steve even started to gain courage and ask her out, he fumbled with his words and turned as red as a tomato. 

“Good! How are my two favorite volunteers?” She beamed at Steve and barely even noted Bucky’s presence. He quietly chuckled, signed his name on the sheet, and clapped Steve on the shoulder taking his leave. 

He left the room and headed straight for where he knew he shouldn’t go. The puppy’s kennels. He waved at Charly and Jason as he passed, two other workers from the shelter. They had seen Bucky and Steve frequently, and the two had become good friends with most of the workers. 

“Hey Bucky! We’ve got a couple new arrivals. If you could, could you bring a couple out to the yard and exercise ‘em?” Charly asked with a large smile, one which Bucky happily returned. He nodded back at her and headed into the kennels. 

The new arrivals were always on the far row of kennels. He rounded the corner and saw there were five new arrivals. He’d grab the first three and take them into the yard for some play time. 

The first dog was a big chocolate lab, named Murphy. He grabbed the leash from the hook and opened the kennel. Murphy leapt from his bed and immediately ran to Bucky asking for attention. To which Bucky happily granted. 

“Hey bud! Wanna go for some playtime?”

The dog sat in front of Bucky and pawed at the leash he held. Behind him, his tail furiously wagged banging against the chain link and making a large amount of ruckus. He was such a sweet dog, Bucky practically melted. He knelt down and scratched behind his ear.

“Seems like he likes you.” Charly stood behind the gate of his kennel and smiled at Bucky. 

He went to reply but before he could, Murphy seemed to be annoyed that Bucky had split his attention and jumped up onto hi chest and pushed him to the ground. He kept his paws on his chest and furiously licked Bucky’s face. 

He couldn’t help but laugh loudly. Everytime he came into the shelter, he felt as if the thousands of pounds of the weight he carried on his shoulder were instantly lifted. Meeting new dogs and seeing the ones from his last visit always made him feel happier than he had in years. 

Sadly, in the back of his mind, Bucky knew that he couldn’t get attached. It was Steve’s rule and Tony had seconded it. It’s not that they didn’t like dogs, it’s really just that as avengers they couldn’t take care of the animal, not when they were gone so often on missions. And it's not like they can take the dog with them when they are taking down Hydra bases in Siberia or wherever they went. 

He patted on Murphy’s side trying to get him off of his chest so he could attached the leash to the dogs collar. He was still chuckling when Charly helped him stand up and grabbed the leash so he could get the next dog. 

“You’ll have to meet the newest pup. He just got here yesterday, he is pretty shy though. His previous owners couldn't care for him any longer.” 

Charly gave a sad smile. Buky didn’t know how she worked here everyday. She was so passionate about all the animals they brought in, the dogs were the ones she loved the most though. Not that she would ever say that outloud. He couldn’t imagine how hard it could be to constantly see animals brought in because it become too much work to care for them, or the ones that were rescued from bad situations. Even thinking about it made his heart clench. 

Who knew the big bad Winter Soldier had a major soft spot for puppies?

 

He nodded over to her and headed down to the pups kennel. On his kennel door was his “fact” sheet. He was three years old, sweet tempered but a bit shy. Bucky carefully opened the kennel latch and walked in, keeping his distance to try not to spook the puppy. He was curled up on the small bed in the corner, his eyes following every movement Bucky made as he knelt to the ground. He vaguely remembered feeling the same way the dog did, cornered in a cell. He would watch everybody that would walk past, aggressively assessing each threat as they passed. 

There was a strange weight on his chest as he started to run down the road of destructive thoughts. He shook himself out of his thoughts only to see that the dog had moved from his spot on his bed and made his way over to Bucky. It dawned on him that the weight on his chest was not the metaphorical weight of his thoughts but rather the physical weight of the dogs head as he pushed against Bucky. 

“Hey buddy.”

The puppy’s tail started wagging behind him and as Bucky returned to his happy self, the dog started to lick his face. He seemed much less shy then he had been just a little bit ago. His

“What’s your name bud?” 

“Sarge.” Charly said from behind him.

“Yes ma’am?” Bucky quickly turned, not used to hearing his rank.

Charly gave a soft laugh and shook her head. 

“No, his name is Sarge. He seems to like you. I’ve never seen him so social.”

Before he could say anything else to Charly, she had taken her leave and grabbed the rest of the dogs heading for the yard. Bucky, however, was enraptured by the dog, Sarge, as he’d now learned. Bucky stretched his legs out in front of him, and as it seemed, Sarge was very happy with that decision. He lept into Bucky’s lap wiggling happily with all the attention he was giving. 

It was the clearing of someone's throat that halted both Bucky and Sarge’s playtime. Behind him at the kennel door, Steve stood with a disapproving gaze. Sarge stepped away from Bucky and laid down, his head resting on his front paw.

“One rule Buck.”

“Yeah, yeah. But Steve-”

“No, ‘buts’ Bucky. We can’t take a dog.”

Bucky let his head hang in defeat. It was a childish move and it would totally guilt Steve into feeling bad for telling him no. Sarge hopped off the floor and walked over to Steve, wagging his tail and asking for attention. It was then that Steve realized why the dog was special. He stood on only three legs, his left amputated high to his body. 

Steve gaped at him and to Bucky, who had a knowing smile on his face. He was drawn to this dog for so many different reasons, but how alike the dog was to himself made him feel happy. Steve opened the kennel door and sat down next to Bucky with a heavy sigh. And Bucky explained to Steve what Sarge had done as he’d spiraled into destructive thoughts.

“How are we going to do this? Tony was very clear we couldn’t come back with dogs.”

“One look and he will fall in love. Just like you and I did.”

Steve laughed heartily knowing that was a high possibility. Charly came back in and saw the two sitting on the floor, happily playing with the dog. She laughed catching their attention and asked what they both knew was coming.

“Should I get the adoption papers pulled up?”

“Yes.” 

Both of them responded in unison.

Half an hour later, they hopped back into the car with Sarge in the back. They had spoiled him just a little and gotten him a soft bed, one for Bucky’s room, and one for Steve’s room, and the tastiest food they could buy. They had also come up with the plan to explain to Tony why they had adopted a dog when they had one rule not to.

When they were on missions and couldn’t be home to watch the dog, they’d get Parker to watch him. Bucky had texted him as they finished signing the papers and asked, making sure to tell him he was not to tell Tony under any circumstances. In the event that Peter couldn’t come over to watch him, they had recruited Charly. She’d happily accepted the offer.

Nerves started to kick at their stomachs as the pulled into the towers garage. What if Tony said no and they had to take Sarge back? Bucky would never be able to live with himself if he abandoned Sarge like his previous owners had. This dog was the sweetest and smartest little guy he’d ever met, he wasn’t going to give that up. 

They took Sarge past the common room with surprising stealth. For two avengers, super soldiers, and trained assassins, they were terrible at sneaking around. More times than not Bucky had been caught stealing a pop tart out of Thor’s stash. Steve fell victim to stealing the thin mint stash Clint had in the vents -- which everyone knew about but nobody but Steve was brave enough to even try-- and he’d been caught multiple time. One time even ending with Steve screaming and falling out of the vent on his face, hard.

They had made it past the main common area, and thinking they were in the clear let their guards down. There were three things they hadn’t accounted for, things that would be their undoing. One was that Clint, a lover of dogs, loved to hide out in the vents. He was just above the hallway they were in when Bucky, Steve, and Sarge walked in. 

“Is that a dog?!”

Shit. Bucky dropped his head in defeat for the second time that day. 

The second thing they hadn’t accounted for was that sound carried in the vents. Clint had practically screamed out that there was a dog. And before they even had a chance to tell him to shoosh, people appeared from everywhere and nowhere. 

The third thing they hadn’t accounted for? Tony was in the kitchen, the room just next to them. He appeared in the doorway, amighty smirk gracing his lips. It was knowing, and disappointed. He knew they wouldn’t be able to resist the puppy dog eyes. While everyone had come down and fawned over the dog, he gave a pointed look to both of them, and both returned with a ‘sorry-not-sorry’ look. At least they had a little remorse for their resolve breaking and bringing back a dog to the tower. 

He rolled his eyes, grumbling at the two and headed off for his lab. About halfway down the hall, Tony stopped. Something about that dog seemed different, he could tell it was a sweet pup but there was something else. He turned back, and sure enough the dog hopped around to each new person that was willing to give attention, on three legs. 

It was like a thousand light bulbs went off in his head. This was perfect. They had decided to do Secret Santa gifts this year, and he had picked Bucky. He had know idea what to get him. The man was a simple one. While in most aspects that was nice, giving presents meant it was a nightmare. He didn’t have a need for much, or ask for much. Tony knew enough to know he wasn’t about the grand gesture, big presents worth a lot. He was much more a fan of the small presents that meant something to him. This was perfect. And so Tony ran down to his lab, he had a call to make. 

Over the next week, Tony spent most of his time in lab tinkering away with his new project. And before he knew it, it was Christmas eve. He went to bed that night with a big smile on his face, this would be a good Christmas. 

Snow fluttered around in the air, and to everyone around it felt like Christmas morning. Bucky sat happily on the floor, Sarge curled into side. Steve reached over and grabbed the next present under the tree. It was a medium sized box, wrapped in a silver and blue wrapping paper. On top of it was Bucky’s name, scribbled in permanent marker. Steve handed it over, Bucky took it and smiled, thanking him. 

He looked around the room trying to gather information on who the present was from, but to no avail. He carefully tore away the paper, an old habit from the 40’s. He pulled off the lid to the box, and very nearly let his jaw drop all the way to the floor. He knew exactly who this came from, and to say he was completely floored with his generosity was an understatement. 

“Tony.. You? You did this for me?”

Tony smiled brightly and replied.

“Yeah. There was no way I was going to make you give him back, so yeah.”

Around them the team was going crazy. They couldn’t see was inside, but obviously it meant a lot to Bucky. From the box, Bucky pulled out a vibranium appendage. It was the exact same design as his own, the greyish blue with gold weaved into the design but designed for Sarge. Below was a note which read, 

“For my favorite broken white boy. I figured you’d enjoy a similar design to your own. Visit soon and Merry Christmas! --Shuri”

“She did all the design work and helped me figure out how to give Sarge full function.” 

Tony smiled and nodded back to the tree. A second much smaller present also had Bucky’s name scribbled on top. Wrapped in the same wrapping paper, Buky tore it away to reveal a black vest. It was meant for Sarge, had a leash attachment on the back and a velcro patch on either side. As he pulled it out, a small rectangular patch fell from the vest. On it read “Service Dog”. 

“He’s been a great help to you. I figured I’d make it official.” 

“Thank you, Tony. This is absolutely amazing. I can’t thank you enough.”

“Merry Christmas Bucky.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please do not buy pet dogs service dog vests. It can be very dangerous for service dogs or service dogs training. I have had several run ins with fake service dogs that have put mine and my dogs safety in jeopardy. Don’t take your pets into the store, just leave them home.


End file.
